Time was moving forward slowly.
Rachel was deeply plunged into her emotions, cut off from the world. She was only able to return to reality after a knocking sound on the door interrupted her reverie, and when she raised her hand to touch her eyes, she noticed that they were moist with tears.
She frantically got up and wiped off any signs of crying from her face. She looked at the ceiling while taking in a deep breath.
The knocking sound became incessant.
Rachel felt that she finally removed herself from her previous forlorn state as she tried to force an unnatural smile and opened the door.
“Why aren’t you responding until now?”
Sophie’s immediate reaction was to scold Rachel as soon as she saw the door open.
Rachel’s voice was hoarse and tiny, “I was sleeping just now, mum. What’s the matter?”
“Rachel, are you hiding something from me?” Sophie shifted her gaze at Rachel’s reddened eyes as a suspicion crept into her.
“Why do you think so?” Rachel lowered her gaze to avoid Sophie’s eyes.
Sophie replied in an adamant tone, “Sienna has always been the kind one, and although she didn’t tell me anything, that doesn’t me I’m oblivious to what’s happening. I know you like to keep to yourself, and you won’t open up to me, but I hope you can keep up your act. Don’t disappoint me.”
Rachel smiled bitterly, still avoiding her mother’s suspicious glare. She was labelling her as someone who liked to keep to herself?
She should just label Rachel as someone shrewd and tricky. Rachel didn’t need her to talk in such a roundabout way.
“Alright, I get it.” Rachel forced a faint response as she felt the gap between them widening. She only wanted to slam the door shut at that moment.
Sophie repeated, “Don’t you have anything to tell me?”
“None at all.” Rachel replied with determination.
“Alright then, considering you’re an adult now, you should know how to be responsible to yourself.” Sophie’s voice suddenly became cold, and a whiff of anger seeped into her voice as she said, “You can continue sleeping!”
After dishing that, Sophie turned around and was about to leave.
Rachel stopped her abruptly, “Mum, I’m going away soon.”
Sophie froze in her tracks, as she managed a reply with her back facing Rachel, “Where are you going.”
“Home.”
Sophie laughed coldly, “This is your home. You can’t go anywhere. Don’t think that I’m not aware of your biological father’s stubborn disposition. You have directly caused Leah to spend time in prison. Luck would be in your favour if your father somehow decides not to beat you to death. You better don’t think of going back anytime soon.”
Rachel felt all hope drained out of her heart. Her own mother really believed that she had caused Leah to go into prison.
She suddenly felt very powerless as she couldn’t find in herself any strength to refute or complain. She just replied meekly, “I will rent a unit out there…”
“Don’t do something that will embarrass me.” Sophie replied in an angered tone, “You’re part of the Hill family, so you must maintain the quality and good upbringing in the way you carry yourself. If you want to marry someone, I will help you look for a guy with good background. However, if you are not planning to marry anytime soon, you will stay at home. Don’t even think about going anywhere.”
Rachel was silent as she stared at her mother’s cold and uncaring back. She felt that her heart was thrown into a cold pit in that instant. After deciding not to continue this conversation anymore, she bit her lips and slammed the door hard.
“Bang!”
The door was locked too.
Sophie was stunned briefly as she turned around feeling shocked by Rachel’s actions. Her face darkened instantly as she denounced, “Your hot temper takes after your damned father’s temper.”
Rachel fixed her back against the door, as hot tears broke free from her eyes. They rolled down her cheeks and ended up wetting her chin.
A bitter yet emotionless smile appeared at her lips as she stared at the sunlight illuminating everything outside the window. Her heart was in tatters at that moment.
Her parents were divorced and both of them resented each other. In the process, she had ended up becoming the collateral damage.
Her mother must have been resenting her because her father’s blood was coursing through her veins.
Her father would show a disgusted look whenever he laid eyes on her face which resembled her mother’s face. He was never kind to her in any way.
She finally came to a realization. She finally knew the mistake here.
She should never have been born in the first place.
As she listened to her mother’s torrent of reprimands on the other side of the door, a sense of despair slowly permeated through her.
“You should try to get rid of your shitty temper. Don’t bring shame to the Hill family by carrying with you such a shitty trait from the White family.”
“And by the way, don’t ever think of leaving this place. I was against you going back to the White family as long as ten years ago. Living with those uneducated people won’t bring you any good.”
“A few days later, your brothers will finally return. Stay put and don’t do things that will bring shame to my name.”
“…”
Rachel felt her whole existence shrunk into a kind of lonely nothingness as she slowly trod to the balcony.
She created a vacuum around her, shutting her heart and ears to prevent any sound from penetrating into her tiny world. She stood for a long time on the balcony, her gaze fixed on a point in the sky. Although the sunlight was warm, the wind that blew by her felt icy and excruciating. It made her heart tremble with the cold.
–
In the upcoming days, Rachel never went to look for a job.
Her stepfather had invited her to work for the Hill Group, but she had turned him down. Instead, she had registered for a training course she couldn’t even feel confident about.
Police assistant…
It was a position where she was to assist the police to unravel criminal cases.
At this point in her life, she had all but lost her hopes about her future. She felt like she had lost her way in life.
It was an easy decision to make, registering for this job. She wanted to find who the murderer who killed Eve was. As long as she was still in the dark and couldn’t reach an answer, she would always be filled with regrets.
She breezed through the body check-up and a knowledge test before officially made a trainee in the training of a police assistant.
Since she was doing this secretly, she would always return home no matter how late the time was at the end of the day.
After a week, it was drizzling on a Sunday.
Rachel didn’t need to go to training camp, so she only woke up when it was noon.
Nobody in the Hill family would care about how late she was getting home or how late she was waking up. Nobody cared about her whereabouts and activities. She was always lacking supervision from the adults since young.
After washing up and changing into a casual outfit, she emerged from her room with a listless look on her face. She dragged her heavy body downstairs slowly.
When Kate saw her coming downstairs, she welcomed Rachel with a smiling face, “Miss Rachel, you have woken up.”
“Yes.” Rachel mumbled a reply.
Kate approached her with a wide grin on her face as she said mysteriously, “Miss Rachel, can you guess who has come back?”
Kate’s words managed to stir up a ripple in a dead sea that was her heart.
She didn’t reply Kate since she thought that whoever coming back had nothing to do with her. She returned a smile at Kate, “Mrs. Ryan, I want to eat something.”
“Go ahead, it is almost time for lunch too. You’ve come down at the perfect time.”
Rachel nodded slightly in Kate’s direction before heading towards the dining room.
When she took a step into the dining room, she found herself unable to budge as she was rooted to the spot.
The dining room was bustling with people.
Her step father, her mother and her eldest brother with her sister-in-law were all there, but it was those two other men there who elicited a weird sensation in her heart.
Her second brother, Ewan and third brother, Mason, were both seated.
Her gaze inadvertently fell upon Ewan’s cold and stony face. She felt herself sunken in a daze.
When Mason saw Rachel, he looked excited as he got up from his seat and walked towards her. His handsome face bore a warm smile reminiscent of the sun in May. It was a refreshing feeling to watch his smile.
“Rachel…”
Mason called out to Rachel, and she immediately retracted her gaze and directed it at Mason. She flashed a sincere smile as she responded, “Mason, you’re back…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Mason inched closer and suddenly swept her off her feet by hugging her waist. She was shocked momentarily as she clutched his shoulders frantically, “Mason, put me down.”
Mason didn’t care about how others would view his antics as he continued to hug Rachel while spinning around in the dining room. He laughed happily, “I miss you so much, Rachel.”
“Mason, put me down now. I’m dizzy.” Rachel was indeed dizzy after being spun around like that.
Up until that moment, Mason was the only one who loved and spoiled her.
She was happy to see Mason too.
It felt like she had finally left a place with forlorn weather as she entered a wide plain bathing in warm sunlight. Even the air itself felt fresher.
Mason put her down while caressing her bangs covering her forehead. He smiled, “Do you miss me?”